


Agents of SHIELD: The Tower of Terror

by kamenrangerxvi01



Series: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. "Relaunch"/Earth-199999α [15]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Ghosts, Haunted Hotel, Horror, Inspired by The Twilight Zone, Inter dimensional travel, Parallel Universes, Paranormal, SHIELD, Twilight Zone References, ghost story, tower of terror
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2019-11-05 21:48:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 5,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17926964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kamenrangerxvi01/pseuds/kamenrangerxvi01
Summary: Off on a mission to another Earth, Agents Scott Riley and Skye Simmons-Johnson are stranded miles from Zephyr Zero when a powerful storm hits. Unable to signal their ride to pick them up and unwilling to leave it behind, the pair decide to seek shelter in a dilapidated old hotel, not knowing the secrets it hides.Secrets so dark... the two best friends might as well be walking into...The Twilight Zone...





	1. Picture if you will...

**Author's Note:**

> An epic shout out and thanks to Martin from MartinsVids.net 
> 
> his Hollywood Studios "Tower of Terror" video inspired me to write this story.  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7x8EOgJSDZg&t=3132s
> 
> If you're a fan of Disney theme park history like me, you should really check out his work.  
> http://www.martinsvids.net/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Settting: May 2020, a few weeks after “The Eternity Cycle”

“So… Feel at home at all?” Scott asked as they sat on a bench, watching people pass.

“You kidding? This is old even to me.” Skye said.

The world they were on had suffered some form of delayed development. They’d only recently reached a technological and cultural level somewhere between the 1930s and 1940s.

They were sitting in what on their world would have been MacArthur Park in Los Angeles. Here, it was Washington Park in the city of New Paris, the French and Spanish having swapped roles in the colonization of the Americas, most obvious the billboard across the street advertising “Renard” instead of Zorro.

“Are you getting anything at all?” Scott asked.

Skye pulled out a compact from her purse, opened it and started checking her makeup.

“Scanner’s still only getting a faint signal.” She said, looking at the display hidden in the mirror.

Scott leaned back on the bench.

“With our luck it’s in a cave a mile beneath us…”

“So now what do we do?”

“Keep looking I guess. It’s all we can do.”

The pair got up and Scott offered her his arm.

“Ain’t happening.” She said as she started walking.

“It’s called ‘blending in.” He said, following her.

“Don’t care.” She said as she checked her compact scanner again. “I’m a married woman.”

 

He sighed, shrugged and followed.

 

Scott and Skye spent hours wandering around New Paris. The city’s layout was a jumble of streets like it’s namesake, not the straight grid they were used to.

“Rue Roosevelt…?” he asked as he looked up “I think we past this way already.”

“I don’t think so.”

“How would you know, you’ve been staring at the scanner the entire time…”

“My sense of direction isn’t that bad.”

Scott saw a familiar building in the distance.

“We pasted that tower like… twice already.”

“ _Three times, Master_.” Tallus chimed in.

“Thank you…” he said towards his wrist while Skye shot him a look.

“Got anything?” Scott asked the alien computer.

“ _Unfortunately, Mistress Skye has been leading you in and out of the transceiver range for the Zephyr. I have been unable to complete any large calculations without the plane’s extra processing power._ ”

“What do you need?” Scott asked.

“ _Two blocks, north northeast or as close as possible_.”

“Roger that.” Scott said.

“ _That’s to your right, Master_.”

“I knew that…” He said as he pulled Skye by the arm.

 

They eventually found a spot nearby where the signal was strong enough.

“Rue Spielberg?” Scott asked rhetorically.

“Let’s not dwell on that, let’s see what your little servant has.”

 _“... I heard that, Mistress Skye…_ ” It said

“Will you two knock it off? I’d like to get home to my new baby as SOME point today, even if it means leaving and coming back.”

“ _Master… I don’t think you’re going to have the time for that_.”

“Why not?”

“ _There’s a storm approaching._ ”

“You calculated that?”

“ _No, the Zephyr’s weather radar picked it up. It’s approaching quickly and seems to be quite large by the look of it. You might need to use the 5001_.”

“Tell you what, send up a Thunderbird, we’ll figure out what to do from there.”

“ _Understood, commencing launch procedure.”_

 

Several miles away, atop the same hill, in roughly the same spot as it had been over a year ago on another earth, sat _Zephyr Zero_ under its retro reflective camouflage. The quiet was ended by a mechanical whirling coming from the jet, a hatch on it’s dorsal surface sliding open and a long arm rising vertically, unfolding itself until it was sticking about twenty feet above the top of the plane.

With a loud THUMP a small, bird shaped object was launched off the plane a great force, sending it hundreds of feet into the air. Once out of sight, the small device, an autonomous sensing drone disguised as a bird, fired a small but powerful arc thruster motor, sending it even higher and toward the approaching weather front.

“ _Master, the drone will take a few minutes to complete it’s scanning. I will return to my calculations for the time being, but you will need to stay within range._ ”

“Okay then…”

“I’m gonna go around the block and sweep for any more signals.”

“Just don’t get lost.”

Scott stood there for a few minutes before his AI spoke again.

“ _Master, the data from the drone has been processed. The storm front showing a pressure differential of…_ ”

“shortest answer as you can give, please.”

“ _It’s big, Master_.”

Scott stuck his head around the corner and found Skye walking back.

“We’re going. We can comeback for the plane tomorrow. Tallus, put the old girl on alert status 1A.”

“ _Yes Master, engaging 24-hour perimeter lock down. We can depart whenever you’re ready_.”

Skye put her hands on Scott’s shoulders as he triggered the Stark Device he wore on his wrist to jump them back home.

 

And nothing happened.

“Crap… Now what?” Skye said as they heard thunder rumble.

“We find a place to wait out the storm till I get this fixed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "zorro" is Spanish for Fox. Renard is the same in French.
> 
> On the Earth they are visiting, anything whose name is derived from Native American/Aztec/Maya etc retains it’s name, with some possible variations. Anything derived from wholely spanish sources is now French. So while Mexico retains its name (being of Aztec origins) California does not because it’s named after a fictional island from a 1500s Spanish novel. 
> 
> Meanwhile, if you’re looking for Spanish speakers in the Americans, try Canada.
> 
>  
> 
> New Paris is basicly a bigger, grander version of New Orleans, and much like in our world, the perfect weather lead to the development of the film industry there when the technology finally arose.


	2. A dark and Stormy Night...

The storm was quickly on them. It wasn’t a gentle arrival either. One second, nothing. The next…

“Note to self, find two of every animal and figure out what a cubit is.” Scott said as they ran for cover.

“You try running in this dress and these heels.” Skye complained. They’d dressed to fit in.  Scott in a three-piece suit and a fedora, Skye in a pastel dress with a floppy brimmed hat.

They ducked into the doorway of the large tower they’d pasted a few times. Strangely the door was unlocked. Skye pushed it open and Scott followed.

The lobby was empty. It was slightly dusty, like no one had been in there for a while. That or the cleaning staff was on strike.

“OK... just missing a few creepy bellhops and this place is the _Twilight Zone Tower of Terror_ …” Scott said.

“Oh, don’t be so melodramatic…” She said

“You say that and yet I’m 99% sure you have no idea what I’m talking about.”

“It’s a…” She said, trying her luck “video game?”

“good evening folks.” A voice said, causing the pair to jump.

“Sorry I startled you.” The source of the voice said, a short, balding man in a pinstriped suit who’d just stepped from behind a door.

“Sorry, we just needed to get out of the storm. I thought it never rained around here?” Scott asked.

“Well they say that.” The man said, “But every so often, a nasty storm rolls off the ocean. Welcome to the Hotel Vine.”

He walked around the desk “I’m Mr. Franks. I’m the manager. If you two would like to stay the night till the storm passes, I’d be more than happy to give you a discount. I need the business. Place has been empty for ages.”

“I… I guess…” Scott said before looking at Skye, who nodded in agreement.

Even if the storm passed, the pair knew they’d locked the plane for a full twenty-four hours. Not even they could approach it without getting shot at or shocked on contact. Without the 5001 working, they were stuck.

“Great. I can do $50 total for the both of you if your promise to give a testimonial and tell your friends.”

“Can do.”

“Now, before we go any further, I do need to ask if you two are married?”

“No…” they said

 “Then I’m going to have to set you up in separate rooms. City law, I’m sorry. I’m not going to charge you extra, I just don’t want to get in trouble.”

“Fine… Fine…” Skye said, “he snores anyway.”

“No I don’t.” He said as she elbowed him in the gut.

The pair signed their named and Scott handed him some money they’d “barrowed” earlier.

“Well, Mrs. Simmons and Mr. Riley, if you’ll follow me, I’ll show you both to your rooms.”

He picked two keys off the wall and lead the pair to the nearby elevator.

“I’m putting you on six, that’s where my personal rooms are, so if you need anything, you don’t need to get lost finding me.”

“So, are you two related at all?” Mr. Franks asked as the elevator climbed.

“In-laws.” Skye said “He’s married to my sister. She’s home with their new baby. I came on the trip in her place.”

“What sort of business are you in Mr. Riley.”

“I’m a writer, I had a meeting today with a studio executive, but he had to postpone it for a few days, his assistant said he’s not feeling well. We were supposed to leave today but when I called the hotel, they’d already sent out bags to the station and they’re probably already on the train.”

“Well, nothing beats the Hotel Vine for the experience of New Paris. Where are you from?”

“New York.”

“Ahh... bright lights… big city… Surprised no one there wanted your story.”

“It’s… special, let’s put that way.” Scott said, gearing into the role “None of them could see the vision I had.” The elevator stopped and the three stepped out.

“Well, here’s your rooms. If you need anything, I’ll be downstairs in the lobby until around 10, just in case anyone else joins us. Unfortunately, my kitchen staff isn’t in, but I’d be more than happy to try to cook something for you. Just let me know if you get hungry.”

“Thanks” the pair said in turn as the older man got back in the elevator.

Scott opened the door with the matching number and stepped inside. The room was nice and simple. Two beds, dresser, closet, in suite bathroom. Looking out the window showed the storm raging. A crack of lightning flashed outside.

“Maybe it’s Thor and he can send us home.”

“I wish…” Scott said. He thought to himself he’d yet to go back and check on the Asgardian on the abandoned Earth.

“Well, let’s get out of these wet clothes.” Scott said.

Skye took the key to the room she’d been given, next door to Scott’s. They both found bathrobes in their closets and changed.

 

“How does it look?” Skye asked a few minutes later as Scott sat at the room’s table, examining the 5001 with Tallus.

“ _It would seem, Mistress, that one of the Department of Defense lab monkeys didn’t do a proper job putting it back together_.” Tallus informed her.

“They did alright with you.”

“that’s because they never took him apart.”

“ _I’m complexly solid state, and I told them if they tampered with my power cell, it would explode_.”

“That can’t really happen, can it?” Skye asked.

“ _No, I lied_.” It said, proud of itself.

Another flash and rumble followed by the light flickering.

“I think I’m going to take a shower.” Skye said, returning to her room.

 

Skye pulled her robe off and climbed into the claw footed tub. She turned on the water. It made her feel a bit better. She was a little upset at Scott, but she didn’t want him to know. Sure, he was missing his wife and his newborn daughter, but she had her own wife and her own kids, and she missed them just as much.

“Jas…” Skye said, thinking of her beloved.

After a few minutes she stepped out of the shower, put her hair in a towel and slipped the bathrobe back on. She had just wiped off the bathroom mirror when she saw it.

 

 

Scott was still staring intently at the device on the table when he heard Skye scream.

He picked up the Tallus and ran out into the hall.

“What’s the matter? What’s wrong?” he asked as she came running out of her room.

“I saw a face… in the mirror… a face… in the mirror.” She said, panting, clearly terrified.

“Ok… That’s what mirrors do…”

“Not mine you idiot!” She said, smacking him “It was… someone else… Scott… I think this place is haunted.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title drop! Take a shot!


	3. Place is a Madhouse...

“You’re telling me you think you saw a ghost?” Scott asked, rubbing his face where’d she’d just hit him.

“YEAH!” Skye yelled.

Scott stuck his head into her room and looked around. It was a mirror version of his own, as one would expect. The bathroom sink and mirror were against the wall that faced the rest of the room, so it wasn’t some kind of prank. He returned to his room and removed his phone from his suit jacket and shone the light into the glass.

“Looks like a normal mirror to me. What did this face look like?”

“It was a woman, middle aged-ish, older than me I’ll say that. She had long, curly red hair. And I think she was wearing a red dress.”

“Surprised you ran.”

“HEY!” She yelled, smacking him on the other cheek “this is serious.”

“I know… I’m sorry.” He said, “Let’s go have a word with Mr. Franks.”

They threw their clothes back on and climbed into the elevator.

After only a short ride, the car shook, and the lights went out.

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me.”

The pair were able to force the doors open, having stopped at the third floor, with the doors only slightly misaligned.

“I’m so getting my money back.” Scott said.

“You stole that money.” She said flatly.

“It’s the principle. Poor customer service. Sticking my best friend in a haunted room.”

They walked down to the end of the hall and opened the door to the stairwell. It creaked and moaned, like it hadn’t been opened in ages.

“That’s odd…” Scott said.

They began down the stairs when another noise echoed in the stairwell.

“Did you just hear laughing?”

“Yeah…” Scott said, unholstering his gun.

“Turn around.” Skye said. Scott spun in place, weapon in hand “What? See something?”

“No, I just don’t want you looking…” Skye said, lifting her skirt to remove her own gun from her leg holster.

 

They continued down the stairs and into the main lobby.

 

“Hello, Mr. Franks?” Skye called, but the little man was nowhere to be seen.

“Ok, this is definitely turning into an episode of the _Twilight Zone_.” Scott said.

“Oh… will you stop.” She said back as she tried the front door. “It’s locked.”

“maybe he had to use the bathroom and locked it.”

“With us in it?” She asked.

“ _do-do do-do do-do do-do_ …”

“Scott, I am REALLY not in the mood for your sense of humor right now.”

“that wasn’t me.”

“ _Sorry, Mistress. That was me…”_ Tallus said

“The two of you are going to make me an alcoholic…” She said “Just… get the door open.”

“OK. Ok.” He pulled on the handle but got nothing.

“Try using your suit.”

“It’s on the plane. And if they tampered with the 5001, with my luck I’ll be wearing my Rider armor upside down…”

Skye, in a fit, fired at the glass doors, but the bullets simply fell to the ground, not even denting the glass.

“Well, this is going nowhere.” Scott said.

“Not helping.” She fussed.

Scott held up his hand and used his powers to try to pull it open.

“Nothing…”

“Double team?” Skye asked, holding up her hand.

“Guess so.” The pair tried quaking the door open and got nowhere.

“This can’t be made of vibranium, can it?”

“What if this is like what Barry and Thawne have to deal with when they cross to our world?”

“So basically, need to do this with wits instead of powers… alright, lets find that little creep.”

 

They searched the backside of the main desk. There were no files, no paperwork, no registry books and the phone wasn’t plugged in.

“Yeah… definitely the _Twilight Zone_ at this point.”

“Let’s look around.”

Scott took Tallus off his wrist and gave him to Skye.

“In case you see anything, you’ll have a witness recording it.”

Scott pulled out his sunglasses and put them on, tapping the side twice.

“OK, that does make sense.” The switched their ear coms back on and split up.

 

Skye walked slowly down the corridor, her gun at ready.

“So…” she asked the AI “have you been able to figure anything out about what we discussed?”

“ _I’m sorry Mistress, but I am unable to find a greater cause. I am not adept at understanding human feelings. I am functionally a Siltavion mind, remember_.”

“Right, sorry. I just… I don’t understand this at all.”

Skye walked into the hotel’s restaurant. Maybe the little twerp was trying to cook diner.

“Mr. Franks?” she called again but got no answer.

Suddenly, another lighting strike lit up the windows. Skye closed her eye to shield them from the bright light.

When she opened them again….


	4. Where Am I to go...

The lights in the room were on and she got a better look at the room. It was a semi-circled bowl shape, with a tiered seating area. To her right, the lower tiers lead to the dance floor in at the lowest level with a stage and windows looking out into the hotel’s courtyard. The higher tiers got went up to a bar.  There was music in the air. She was surrounded by people. They were laughing, drinking, dining and dancing. The sky through the windows was a clear evening, no sign of a storm.

She looked across the dance floor.

It was her, the woman from the mirror.

She was wearing a red dress, standing next to the stage and was staring right at Skye, beckoning towards her. Terrified as she was Skye had to admit to herself the woman was strikingly beautiful.

A waiter walked up to Skye.

“Miss, are you alright?” He asked, his voice sounding strange. Almost like they were underwater.

Skye stood there. Frozen in terror.

“Miss?” the waiter asked again “Do you need something? Should I call someone?”

Skye screamed at the top of her lungs and closed her eyes again. When she reopened them, the room was back to the way it was. The people were gone. The woman was gone. Skye spun in place several times, looking all around her.

“You… You saw that…” Skye asked Tallus. “You saw her…”

“ _Mistress… I… I… I… I…”_

She smacked her wrist. The red glow of the band stopped for a moment as the computer rebooted.

“ _That’s never happened before_.” It said. Even though it didn’t show normal emotion, she could tell it was afraid two.

“What happened to you?” She asked.

“ _Sensory overload. Roughly equal to what you humans refer to as Shock_ ” it said.

“you fainted.” She said, chuckling slightly.

“ _I did no such thing_.”

“No, you fainted.”

“ _Mistress, please. We must focus on out task_.”

“You are almost as bad as Scott sometimes.” She said as they continued toward the kitchen.

Skye pushed the door open and found nothing. No sign of Franks. No sign the kitchen had even been used recently.

Skye looked around and began to head back when she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. The woman again, this time shaking her head.

“ _Mistress, I am detecting elevated levels of multiple gases; hydrogen, carbon dioxide, Methane and ethylene…”_

Skye knew what it was talking about and quickly put her hand over her mouth and made for the door, only to find it locked.

“Who puts a lock on a swing door?” Tallas noted, while Skye looked down at the device with contempt. She tried looking for another way out while the gas continued to fill the room.

“ _Mistress, I have an idea… get down on the floor_.”

Skye realized whoever was doing this was probably doing it intentionally, and got down on the floor, pretending to collapse from the gas.

As soon as she did that, she hear the whirling of ventilation fans and the click of the door unlocking.

Skye looked up. The woman was back, and she was smiling. Skye looked towards the door and then back at her, but she was gone again.

The door opened, and Skye was shocked to see Mr. Franks.

He looked… Different.

“Well now, my pretty… Time to have some fun…” he said.

Skye responded by jumping to her feet and throwing several objects at the man, knocking him down before she jumped over him and ran out the door, across the restaurant and back out towards the lobby.


	5. ...Now that I've gone too far?

Meanwhile…

Scott climbed the large staircase from the lobby up to the hotel’s lounge area. He pushed the door open, finding Franks sitting there with a bottle of bourbon.

“Ah… Mr. Riley… my friend from another world.”

“You know?” Scott asked, lowering his gun.

“Well, you did blow it, son. On this world, New York’s name wasn’t changed. It’s still New Amsterdam. And don’t start signing that song, please. I spent six months with it rattling around my head once.”

“You figured all that out from one conversation?”

“No, I’ve been watching you two. You’re wearing Ray Bands and you’ve got and iPhone sticking out of your shirt pocket.”

“I take it you’re not from around here ether.” Scott said, walking up next to him and sitting down next to him.

“No… No I’m not. I came to this earth about three years ago.” Franks explained as he poured Scott a glass. “An experiment… went… wrong. On my world, I lived in a little town called Eureka, up in Oregon. The government had set up the town to be home to the best and brightest, to work in both peace and quiet as well as in secrecy… but things… didn’t always go as planned. About four years ago, a… well a rift in space time opened near the town. I was a researcher in the town and… Well, I came into contact with the riff one day, found myself here.”

“So this place isn’t haunted? This so experiment gone amock?”

“Oh, no, it’s haunted alright.” Franks said, taking a swig. “Haunted by my failures… Who did she see? Gloria?”

“What does Gloria look like?”

“Red hair, red dress. Bit like Jessica Rabbit if drawn like a normal human.”

“That sound like what Skye described.”

“Well, then, your friend is in good hands…”

A crash and rumble echoed through the building.

“So what’s?” Scott began to ask before looking up, but Franks was gone. Scott looked around, no sign he’d left.

When he turned back, Franks was sitting there like nothing had happened.

“Boo!” Franks said, causing Scott to jump.

“Surprised?”

“Got that right…”

“Well, don’t be too surprised, I’m not a ghost. We just got bumped into different folds of space time for a moment. Happens every time there’s a storm. Something about this building makes it like a dimensional tuning fork. I’m sure that sounds like the most idiotic thing you’ve ever heard.”

“Eh, not really.” Scott said, taking off the glasses and pressing an app on his phone screen that caused the smart lenses on his eyes to switch off.

“Ah… now that is interesting…” Franks said “Alien?”

“Partly.” Scott said, taking a swig.

“Now, brass taxes… why is the door locked?”

“First of all, it’s Brass tacks, as in push pins, not taxes. As for the door, I’m afraid you wouldn’t believe me… you see, it’s not for you. It’s to keep me in…”

 

At this point Scott heard Skye come racing up the stairs.

“What the?” She said when she saw Scott sitting with Franks.

“But I just…”

“You just what?” He asked.

“YOU…”

“He’s like us Skye, he’s not from this earth.”

“Then who just attacked me?”

Franks put his glass down.

“The version of me who _is_ from this earth.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the song Frank mentions Scott not to say is "Istanbul (not Constantinople)" (originally by the Four Lads but much more famously recorded by They Might be Giants), which contains the lyric "Even Old New York was once New Amsterdam"


	6. Well the night weighs heavy on his guilty mind

“You’ve been keeping your doppelganger locked up in here?” Scott asked.

“I’ve been trying. Something about this place… I can never keep him tied down. I can’t touch him. It’s like… It’s like he really is a ghost.”

“Why?” Scott asked

“Why? Ask you friend what he was like.” Franks said, “The man’s a few screws short of an Erector set.”

“He seemed like he wasn’t all there.” Skye said

“And that’s not the half of it.” Franks continued “The hotel was built fifteen years ago. Showplace of the new film industry. But, as things happen, it failed, five years ago after the owner went to prison for embezzling. I guess more things change, the more they really do stay the same. My counterpart bought the place at a foreclosure auction and turned it into a massive death trap.”

“Great, so on top of everything else… he’s a serial killer.”

“Bingo.” Franks said, “I’ve been trying to keep him in check. I couldn’t bring myself to do anything else anyway. He’s not evil, just really sick. So, I’ve spent all my nights making sure he can’t get out.”

“Then why was the door unlocked?”

“Well, I can’t very much stay in here all the time.” Franks said “Gotta get my food and my booze somehow. God, I miss Grubhub… Hell, I’d kill for a microwave.”

“If we get out of this, you can have ours…” Scott said “But… Then…?”

“What keeps crazy me in? Simple. Man thinks he’s a vampire.”

Scott and Skye both look at him with confused looks on their faces.

“I know, I know… Twilight Zone…” Franks said.

“Thank you!” Scott said.

“Why’d you take our money? Why’d you let us stay?” Skye asked.

“You two are obviously able to take care of yourselves. Not many folks walk in my door carrying a Glock 22 and Browning M1911.” Franks said, looking down at the guns still in their hands.

 

“I installed a little contraption on the roof, a rudimentary solar sensor. So long as sun light hits it, the doors are unlocked. But the moment the sun starts to set, or the cloud cover gets too thick, the doors and windows all snap shut and lock.”

“Impressive” Scott said, “More so given the circumstances”

“Well, MacGyver was one of my favorite shows.” Franks said, “Tried to sell the idea to some of the studios when I got here, nobody took. Tried everything. Star Trek, Star Wars… Would you believe I even tried to pitch Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers out of desperation…”

“So the doors will unlock in the morning?” Skye asked “Thank God this place isn’t as polluted yet. Good clear days were always hard to come by growing up.”

“You from around here?”

“San Bernardino.” Skye replied, nodding.

“I give this earth twenty years before the smog build up really starts.” Franks said.

 

“So” Scott said “We just need to avoid the traps and wait till sun up.”

“I love how you say that with such confidence.” Franks told him “The other me is constantly rigging new traps. Even I don’t know where they all are. I try to stay in places he avoids.”

“So I guess we can just stay here…” Scott said.

 

He then heard an object roll across the floor. He looked down to see a tear gas grenade sitting at his feet.

“Me and my big mouth.” He said before covering his face as the grenade went off.


	7. ...This Far from the Borderline

The three ran out into the hall, finding no one.

“Does this place have secret passages two?”

“No, it’s the storm, probably threw him out of phase. He could be anywhere.”

Skye looked around, stepping back towards the stairs. She heard “Hello my pretty” directly behind her. She freaked out, spun in place and fired.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Scott asked, holding the bullet in mid-air with his telekinesis. Franks looked on in amazement.

“I heard him… He was right behind me…” She said as another bolt of lightning hit, causing Franks to phase out momentarily again, at which point she screamed.

Scott simply grabbed her arm and spoke directly to Talus.

“Please tell me you have some good news?” Scott asked as Franks phased back in.

“ _Master, I am happy to report I have calculated the best possible answer to our situation with the information and resources available to me._ ”

“And…”

“ _This building is acting much like a large-scale version of a Stark Device_.” Talus told them “ _Best answer I can come up with is the device we are searching for must be in this building_.”

Scott turned to Franks

“Have you ever seen a machine that looks like this?” Scott asked, pulling out his phone and showing Franks a picture of the Stark-One.

“No, can’t say I have.”

“You’re sure?”

“Ok, yes, I’ve been a bit dishonest with you two, but I have NOT seen anything like that, I SWEAR.”

“Ok… first things first, we find a place he won’t go near and we work out how and why.”

 

Franks led them into his office, which looked exactly decked out for dealing with a vampire.

“Are you humoring him or something?”

“It was the only way to keep his sorry self out of my hair for more than a few minutes. My room upstairs is much the same.

“Christ, smells like a Pizzeria in here.” Skye said, holding her nose from the strong garlic smell.

“Please don’t mention pizza.” Scott said, “It lost all flavor to me thanks to Daisy’s constant craving of it while pregnant with Toni.”

 

Scott took a moment to completely explain who they were to Franks.

“So… these machines are like an interdimensional TARDIS.” Franks

“If you want to look at that, way, yes.” Scott said.

Skye looked at him cockeyed

“I.E.L.”

“Whatever…” She said dismissively.

“So, with that out of the way, Mr. Franks, tell me about whatever it was that brought you here.”

“It was… It was like blue lightning. It just randomly flashed about in a grove of trees, a few miles outside the town. We though it was one of our experiments acting up… again.”

“Again?”

“Let’s put it this way, there’s an obvious reason our research facilty doesn’t have one of those ‘days without an accident’ sign” Franks said, exasperated “The Sherrif suggested we shut everything down to be sure. For a while, we thought it cleared up. I went in to investigate and ZAP! I found myself on the beach.”

“How did you find you way here? Find yourself?” Scott asked as Skye started digging around through the shelves.

“A few passers by recognized me for my twin. I told them I was his brother and was looking for him. I though he could help. Boy was I mistaken…”

There was a thud behind them, at which, without looking back, Scott said “Skye, stop touching things for two seconds.”

She didn’t answer.

Scott turned around and saw she was gone.


	8. When the Hitman comes, he knows damn well he's been cheated

“No secret passages?” Scott asked, looking at the swung open bookcase.

“No, that’s the laundry chute.”

“Why is it behind a bookcase?”

Franks looked like he was about to give a long winded explanation, but only responded with “…touché…”

 

Skye found herself falling face first into a pile of old sheets and towels.

“Owwww…” she moaned as she pulled herself free of the linens and looked around the room.

“Is there like some unwritten rule that I have to end up hurting myself on these missions.” She fussed to herself as she climbed out of the cart she’d landed in.

The room was dark, with just a single bare light bulb hanging in the middle providing all the light.

“HELLO!” She called out.

“SKYE?” she heard Scott call back down the shaft “Can you hear me?”

“Yeah, Scott, I’m in basement, looks like the laundry room.”

“Don’t move, we’re coming to you.”

 

“Sure… haunted hotel with a psychopath running loose and he tells me not to move.”

Skye saw movement out of her right eye and turned to see the woman in red. She looked towards the door and held a single finger to her lips. Skye quietly moved behind the row of washing machines as the door opened.

 

“Where are you my pretty… Come out, come out, wherever you are.” CRAZY Franks sang as he entered the room. “You just look sooo… DELICIOUS!” he yelled as he knocked over a pile of boxes on the other side of the room.

 

She felt a strange feeling in her arm and inside her head. She realized it was Talus trying to talk to her in the way it can to Scott, but it didn’t work for Terrans.

“Stop… you’re giving me a headache…” she whispered to the AI on her wrist.

 “What was that?” Crazy Franks asked, before sniffing the air. “You’re in here, somewhere, dear girl… and that sweet neck of yours.”

“This guy really thinks he’s a vampire.” Skye thought to herself. She reached for her gun, only to find it missing. She looked over to the cart she’d fallen in, only to see the woman standing there shaking her head no.

 Crazy Franks quickly yanked open the various storage closets and cabinets, looking for her.

“Please hurry Scott…” she said to herself, before Crazy Franks came around the corner and she got a good look at him. He was a disheveled mess. His beard hung down towards his abdomen. His hair was wild and unkempt.

“There you are… trying to hide from me?”

“Christ you stink…” She said

He raised his hands and charged towards her. She quickly rolled to the side and tripped him. She jumped to her feet, ran over to the cart and found her gun. She spun and took aim at him.

“All right… don’t move a muscle.”

“You really think simple bullets can harm ME?”

Suddenly, a shot ran out, and Crazy Franks was suddenly doused in steam.

“SKYE!” Scott yelled from the door over CRAZY Franks screams of pain.

She charged at the strange man and kicked him square in the gut, knocking him down, and jumping over him and out the door where Scott and the other Franks were standing.

“Let’s get out of here.” She said as she ran past them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided to use "Terran" as a catch all for Humans and their variations (inhumans, mutants, etc)


End file.
